According to a report by the Sun newspaper, Balotelli was spotted entering the Panacea Restaurant and Bar in Alderley Edge at 1am on Sunday morning — with the Premier League champions scheduled to kick-off at 1.30pm that afternoon against Spurs.

On eye witness reportedly said: “He arrived at Panacea with a big entourage and certainly hadn’t dressed down for the occasion.

“I was astonished that he would be so brazen being seen out partying so close to a match, whether he was playing or not.”

The 22-year-old Italian watched the match from the stands. He had been axed from the City squad the previous day, and was not required to be at the team hotel that night.

Alex Livesey

More trouble than he's worth? Mario Balotelli's time at Manchester City has been eventful, on and off the pitch

He did not break any club rules by being out on the town, enjoying the high life at the Alderley Edge bar, which reportedly boasts £1,000 bottles of champagne for its more cashed-up clientele.

But Roberto Mancini would obviously have wanted to call on the partying predator in the event that one of his match squad's three strikers had been injured.

Mancini now looks certain to get the green light to dump Balotelli and make a club-record £45million bid for Atletico Madrid’s Radamel Falcao.